Monday, 15 January 2018

This year’s event featured four female horse trainers
competing for the colt starting championship.
It was outstanding.

There have been female competitors in 2 previous years
but this was the first time that it was exclusively female. The horses that they were presented with
were, in my opinion, exceptionally challenging.
The result was a remarkable opportunity to observe horses with very
strong personalities and trainers with a unique range of styles.

I have already watched the DVD program several times
and it is a challenge to see everything that is going on.

This year one of the competitors was professional show
jumper with tack and methods never before seen at RTTH. When I first heard about this all kinds of
questions went through my fuzzy old head.
As I should have known, horsemanship is horsemanship no matter how you
dress it up.

Just to add another dimension to the event, one of
these ladies dislocated her shoulder near the end of the first round-pen
session. For most people, this would
have been the end but, not so. After a
few minutes to put the shoulder back in this lady resumed the session and then
went on to complete the event. That is
the picture of courage, determination and strength.

For students of horses and horsemanship this an event
you should not miss. It is an
educational opportunity that is truly priceless. You will see some of the best examples of building
trust in horses with high levels of sensitivity (skepticism and fear). For me personally it reinforced the
importance of using my voice to communicate with and build trust with a horse.

Almost every horse training/trainer I have encountered
has insisted that one should not talk to their horse. They always insist that horses don’t understand
English or any other language for that matter.
The fact is that horses can learn what simple words mean and they can
learn to respond with their voice. I
discovered this by accident. I always
said ‘thank you’ to my horse when he did something for me. Then I noticed that when I did something for
him he would respond with a soft two beat knicker, his way of duplicating my ‘Thank
you’. Horses and animals are capable of
learning to respond to humans in many different ways.

I learned early on that horses respond to the smallest
cues once they understand what is wanted.
I learned that the smallest signal with one finger can have my horse
respond quickly and correctly. If you watch closely in this video you will see
several examples of these very same finger cues.

Don’t miss the chance to watch this event and remember
the 2018 event is coming up in a few weeks.

Wednesday, 30 August 2017

My horses live outside year round. They have an open run in shelter where we
provide bedding and feeding spaces but they are free to come and go as they
please. They have a 3 acre paddock
divided into 2 sections, upper and lower.
There are trees and lots of irregular terrain. There is a watering station about 200 feet
away from the shelter.

When we got our horses, we had very little idea of what was
required. We did have some observations
however. We found that most run-in
shelters for horses were made too small, so we made ours bigger 24 ft. long by
14 ft. front to back(for 2 horses). The
shelter is 10 ft high at the front and 8 ft high at the back. The front faces to the south and is open.

This is to take advantage of the sun in the colder months. Our horses are large and the size of the
shelter gives them plenty of room to move around and to stretch out when they
sleep. They have no problem sharing the
space. I believe that this is important
to maintaining low stress levels and a healthier environment. All of the trees that are shown at the front
of the shelter are now gone as a result of a single ice storm.

The most difficult problem occurs in the winter months
when there is a build up ice. This is the most dangerous situation for horses
and humans. To help with the problem the
horses are fitted with special shoes that have ice grippers and pads that
prevent the build up of packed snow in the horses hooves. During icy conditions we also spread waste
bedding on the pathway from the shelter to the watering station . Over the past 12 years we have only had 6
really serious icing events.

The next requirement was a hay storage building and
tack room. For the first few years we
made do with just a temporary metal and plastic garage. After it was destroyed by wind for the second
time we decided to build a permanent structure.
The following pictures show the project beginning, middle and end. It has been worth the effort.

For anyone thinking about having horses you really
need to consider what you will need, I didn’t so I hope this will help to
prepare you.

Thursday, 17 August 2017

This year’s event featured four female horse trainers
competing for the colt starting championship.
It was outstanding.

There have been female competitors in 2 previous years
but this was the first time that it was exclusively female. The horses that they were presented with
were, in my opinion, exceptionally challenging.
The result was a remarkable opportunity to observe horses with very
strong personalities and trainers with a unique range of styles.

I have already watched the DVD program three times and
it is a challenge to see everything that is going on.

This year one of the competitors was a professional show
jumper with tack and methods never before seen at RTTH. When I first heard about this all kinds of
questions went through my fuzzy old head.
As I should have known, horsemanship is horsemanship no matter how you
dress it up.

Just to add another dimension to the event, one of
these ladies dislocated her shoulder near the end of the first round pen
session. For most people, this would
have been the end but, not so. After a
few minutes to put the shoulder back in this lady resumed the session and then
went on to complete the event. That is
the picture of determination and strength.

For students of horses and horsemanship this an event
you should not miss. It is an
educational opportunity that is truly priceless. You will see some of the best examples of building
trust in horses with high levels of sensitivity (skepticism and fear). For me personally it reinforced it reinforced
the importance of using my voice to communicate with and build trust with a
horse.

Wednesday, 2 March 2016

The concept of feel is one of the hardest to grasp
in dealing with horsemanship. Almost
every clinician refers to feel. They
often combine it with terms like timing,
lightness, connection, trust etc.

When I first became acquainted with horses I had no
idea what I was getting into. I relied
on what other horse owners told me assuming they had experience and advice
which would work for me. WHAT A
MISTAKE. When I learned the advice
didn`t work I went looking and found clinicians, their books and dvd`s. The terms FEEL AND TIMING kept being used and
it took me at least 4 years to understand what they were talking about.

This is a
quote from Ray Hunt.

“You want your body and his body
to become one.

This is our goal.

It takes some physical pressure
naturally, to start with, but you keep doing less and less physical and more
and more mental. Pretty soon, it’s just a feel following a feel, whether
it comes today, tomorrow or next year.

So one little thing falls into
line, into place.

I wish it would all fall into
place right now for you, but it doesn’t because it has to become a way of life.

It’s a way you think.

It’s a way you live.

You
can’t make any of this happen, but you can let it happen by working at it.” - Ray Hunt.

It is those last three lines that
have so much meaning.

In this picture you can see the development of
focus, energy, intent and feel of the horse and rider coming together.

It is import to understand the fundamentals of horse behavior and I thank Dr. Robert Miller for everything he has provided to the
horse world. This understanding has to
be combined with developing your own self awareness. If you aren`t aware of your own state of mind
you will never establish effective communication with your horse.
You need to practice three things, patience, observation and humility. You are not superior to the horse but you can be a partner to the horse. Understanding one horse does not mean you understand all horses. You must be willing to learn from the horse and to shape what the horse teaches you to develop communication, productive behaviour and an effective partnership. There must be connection between the horse and human based on trust and respect.

I learned that it can take a long time to earn the
level of trust needed to build that partnership. It is also important to know that you have to
strengthen that partnership every time you are with your horse. The partnership takes years to build and it
can be damaged in minutes. When you have
that partnership, trust and confidence in each other anything is possible.

There are many things to learn in the equestrian
sports and there are dozens of competent professional clinicians and trainers
you can work with. To be a horseman,
however, is a commitment to way of life that incorporates the concept of
partnership and it is a vital part of any program you will undertake.

A special thank you to my friend from Louisiana who
generously provided the photographs.

Friday, 8 January 2016

Clinicians each have their own methods for
developing communication, trust and respect with horses which ultimately leads
to a desired partnership and a required performance level. These methods are probably best demonstrated
in the starting process.

Like humans, horses are individuals with different
temperaments, characteristics and quirks so it is unlikely that any one
consistent method will work with every horse.
It is reasonable to expect then that clinicians make adjustments to
their methods to adapt to the needs of the horse they are working with.

In the 2015 Road to the Horse Competition three
skilled clinicians were each challenged to start two three year old untouched
colts. This gives students of the horse
an exceptional opportunity to observe how different horses respond or react to
a variety of training techniques.
It also shows how the clinicians
adapt their methods to respond to the needs of the different horses.

The great advantage of DVD programs is that you can
review segments to observe all of the subtle differences in the behaviour of
the horses and you can see how the horseman adjust his methods to meet the
needs of the horse. As in all real time
events the adjustments of the horseman are not always successful and they must
make adjustments on the fly.

For me this
program is an absolute treasure of information that I could not possibly obtain
any other way. Without a doubt this is
probably the best program Road to the Horse has presented and I have watched
every one of them many times.

Monday, 16 November 2015

During the last several months I have not done much
writing but I have spent a lot of time watching DVDs about horsemanship. One of the topics I was interested in was
Join Up.

I watched a DVD program by Monty Roberts, who is
probably the originator of the term Join Up and another by Bryan Neubert,
called Wild Horse Handling.

The Monty Roberts program is an excellent
demonstration with a couple of different horses. He thoroughly explains and shows the process
he follows, pointing out the key responses of the horse. I have read a number of articles about
Monty`s method and have heard a number of other horseman describe it. There is nothing like seeing Monty do this
and explain it in his own words. The
beauty of DVD`s is that you can watch it again and again to see the subtle
changes in the horse and observe the details of the horseman's timing and techniques.

The Bryan Neubert program is not exactly about
hooking on. It is a 2 hour DVD in which
he starts a wild mustang. It is a really
pure example of natural horse behavior and the skills of an experienced
horseman. This is a program that I would
highly recommend to anyone who really wants to observe horse behavior and see
the results of using methods that connect to the nature of the horse to achieve communication leading to desired responses and behavior. I have spent countless hours watching this
program and I learn something new every time.
A key part of the process is getting the horse to hook on to the human.

For both of these programs it is very helpful if you
have a foundation in understanding horse behaviour as explained by Dr. Robert
Miller in his program, Understanding
Horses. This is my main reference for everything in establishing
a bond with a horse.

Thursday, 29 October 2015

My father once told me don`t get old and don`t get sick. Unfortunately over the last couple of years both have caught up to me. Age has slowed me down but I have acquired a rare neuro muscular disease which has made it almost impossible to walk and so I have been neglecting other things like this publication. I have however been studying more horse programs and will be sharing my views with you very soon.

Followers

About Me

I became interested in horses a bit late in life and I am trying to make up for lost time in learning as much as I can from and about them.
This blog is about understanding the nature of the horese and through this knowledge to find better ways to communicate with and become partners with horses.
Val and I got out first horse just over 6years ago. Our plan was to keep the horse at a boarding stable. Six months later we brought him home and added a second horse. Withing 2 years (bitten, kicked and thrown) we knew we need help. We found a portal and entered the world of `natural horsemanship`, and we are still on that journey. It started with Parelli, that led to Dr. Robert M. Miller. Since then we have found more and more pathways to explore.